Tag: #netgalley

Book Review – I’ll Call You Mine by Sharon L. Clark

Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged , , , , , , , , 1 Comment
Book Review

Title – I’l Call You Mine

Author – Sharon L. Clark

Release- December 3, 2024

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I’ll Call You Mine by Sharon L. Clark is a romantic suspense novel that will not only have you on the edge of your seat, it will have you rooting for Ben and Katie.

Katie Parker is returning to her hometown of Enderlin, Iowa after being away in San Francisco. While it may seem she is moving back due to her career stalling out, the true reason is someone is stalking her, threatening her life. Now, back in small-town Iowa, Katie is hoping a new job and new scenery will be the fresh start she needs. But, when the stalker makes himself known and she meets Ben, her sexy co-worker, Katie soon realizes that nothing is going to be easy until the man who is tormenting her is caught.

Clark expertly blends the suspense of the stalker and the budding romance between Katie and Ben. The characters are rich and well developed and leap off the page. You find yourself rooting for Katie and Ben while also fearing that Katie is not going to survive the book. Clark will have you at the edge of your seat several times throughout the book. Just when you have let your guard down and forgotten about the stalker, he will pop right back up. Clark’s writing will have you wanting to keep reading to figure out what will happen next.

If you are a fan of suspense and romance, you shouldn’t hesitate to pick up this book.

Book Review: The House is On Fire by Rachel Beanland

Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged , , , , , 1 Comment
Book Review

THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE by RACHEL BEANLAND

Release Date: April 4, 2023

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book. I am giving this honest review freely.

The House is on Fire by Rachel Beanland is a historical fiction set around the 1811 Richmond theater fire. What? You haven’t heard of the fire? Neither had I until I read this book. I probably would have plowed my way through this book without putting it down, except I had to go research more about this fire. This book definitely sent me down a rabbit hole. Which I loved.

The book follows four distinct characters: Sally, a young widow who is attending the theater with her brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Cicely, a slave girl attending the theater with the daughter of her master, Jack, a young stage hand backstage during the play, and Gilbert, a slave who dreams of buying his and his wife’s freedom. The fire changed these four characters’ lives forever.

Fire is a beautifully written and well-researched book. Sally and Gilbert were real people actually involved in the fire. Cicely and Jack were based on real people. The story is definitely a fictionalized version of events, but there is so much historical accuracy, it reads almost like a series of first-hand accounts of the night.

Beanland really delves deep into the issues that women and slaves dealt with in 1811, not very many years after the United States gained their freedom from Britain. You can’t help but feel for Sally, Gilbert and Cicely as they navigate the obstacles they face as they navigate the days following the fire.

I absolutely loved this book. My degree is in US History, however, I had never heard of this event. Beanland not only drew me into the narrative of the story, which was enthralling, she inspired me to do my own research into the event. The characters felt so real, which they were, they were real people, but Beanland still made these names that can often feel two dimensional in a historical document become three-dimensional characters.

If you enjoy historical fiction, I recommend you pick up this book when it comes out. Rumor is this will be an April Book of the Month selection, so this could also be a wonderful opportunity to try that service out, if you’ve been interested.